Coolangatta’s first free range butcher is now open at The Strand! Owner Craig Dudgeon is serving up his own Byron Bay Free Range Beef: a range of good quality, local pasture-fed beef that’s hormone and growth promotion free. The artisan butcher also offers Lillydale free range chickens, Free Range Pork, grass-fed Tasmanian lamb, and a signature range of gourmet sausages, handmade on site.

Craig has recognised the big shift in recent years towards ethically sourced meat, with customers wanting to know where their food comes from. Bringing the finest range of locally sourced free range meats from within 100km of Byron Bay as well as specialty farms around Australia, the Meat Merchant offers a premium level of service and style to every cut of meat. With a focus on ethically produced, free-range product, Craig prefers to deal with farmers using sustainable farming and business practices, to ensure his produce is of the highest quality and best taste, while still at a reasonable price. And Craig’s superior products are already winning awards, with the Meat Merchant taking out 2nd place in the QLD Sausage King State Final at the Ekka, August 2015. Drop in and buy some of their award winning Lamb sausages!

Craig began his career as a butcher two decades ago as an apprentice at Coles Murwillumbah. Since then, he’s owned numerous butcher shops in the area, plus a few stints at Meat and Livestock Australia.

A must-see feature of the Meat Merchant includes a custom-built Dry Age Room onsite for dry-ageing meats, lined with a Himalayan Salt wall, and a glass viewing room at the front of the store, with hanging artisan salamis and imported Jamon from Spain.